Eric Paskel (of XFlowsion fame) is back in town and Heather and I have started taking his class every Sunday at Your Neighborhood Studio in Culver City. It’s been a while since we’ve done XFlowsion, but I’ve been running 5k’s so I thought his class would be a good supplement to my training routine. What I didn’t realize is how much his class would kick my ass. It’s now been 2 days since class and my entire body is still sore! Heather and I walked a 7k last night to help stretch out our muscles but I really wanted to get in a 5k run today, but I’m too sore to attempt it. So today I’ve been researching muscle recovery strategies for athletes. I’ve always known that some athletes do ice baths, but I didn’t know the exact reason why they did it. So I did some research on google and found a good article from the BBC: “Why Sports Stars Love Ice Baths“. The article says that ice baths drain blood and lactic acid from the veins because the veins constrict in the cold and when you emerge from the ice bath “new” blood rushes through your veins with oxygen to help muscle cells function better. Runner’s World also has a how-to article called “The Big Chill” that explains how to take an ice bath and the benefits from it. I’ll definitely have to try one.
There are also nutrition/supplement strategies for optimum muscle recovery. I found a pretty thorough article on Washington Running Report that outlines nutrition for optimum muscle recovery. At the end of the article they endorse a product called Endurox R4 which is a combination of electrolytes, protein, glutamine and other vitaimins - nothing too exotic. I might have to check it out.
I found a good article that talks about the clearing of lactate Acid from the blood stream. They are selling their product, but the article is very informaional. I have not tried the product yet, but to spare me a ice bath, I might
The site was http://www.fastertomorrow.com and the exact page was http://www.fastertomorrow.com/c/muscle-recovery-science/arx.asp
Enjoy and keep up the good work.
@Runner Girl
I hesitated approving your comment because it feels a little “spammy” but since I have a long history with supplements I thought it’s a good discussion point. Personally I would hesitate taking any new supplements nowadays. I’ve used my body as a willing guinea pig in the pursuit of being stronger and looking like the cover models on Muscle and Fitness magazine. After years of seeking the “magic pill” I’ve finally wised up to the notion that nothing will replace training and eating whole foods. ARX looks interesting and does use mushrooms that have shown to increase aerobic activity, but the question is always the quality and standardization of the preparation. I’ll stick to my ice baths which has definite scientific proof instead of supplements which ALL somehow have clinical studies that prove that one ingredient, or all the ingredients extend, prolong, enhance, performance in some way shape or form.